


Threadbare

by untapdtreasure



Category: Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-23
Updated: 2017-05-07
Packaged: 2018-02-10 01:14:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,962
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2005371
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/untapdtreasure/pseuds/untapdtreasure
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p></p><div class="center">
  <p> </p>
  <p>    <img/></p>
</div>The minute it fell from his lips he wished he could pull it back in and button it up tight. He always ended up saying something stupid like that when he was trying so hard not to. The pain in her eyes was only a flash, but he'd seen it anyway. And it opened a wound of his own that never quite would heal.
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks, Vicki, for the beta!

Daryl leaned against the door frame to Carol's cell. She was rummaging around inside, backside high in the air as she did so. He let his lips slip into a familiar smirk. "The hell you lookin' for?"

She moved upright, turning just enough to meet his eyes. "I dropped a spool of thread around here somewhere last night, and I need it." She had a pile of laundry to mend on the end of her bed. "Can't do any of that if I don't find it." She pointed at the menacing pile.

"Could let whomever it belongs to deal with their own damn holes once in awhile. Ain't gonna hurt any of 'em to learn how to sew up a hole." He proudly pointed at his pants. "I did okay by myself." The truth was, he did it himself to keep her from doing it for him. "You ain't none of 'ems mama." 

The minute it fell from his lips he wished he could pull it back in and button it up tight. He always ended up saying something stupid like that when he was trying so hard not to. The pain in her eyes was only a flash, but he'd seen it anyway. And it opened a wound of his own that never quite would heal. "'m sorry, Carol..."

She shook her head. "No, Daryl. You're right. I guess I was just trying to do my part. I don't go out there. On runs and setting snares, I mean. So this is all I got." She moved to the bed and started to fold the laundry quietly.

He pushed himself into the room, dropping down on his knees. "Drop it down here, ya think?" He began to feel around, hoping there weren't any spiders or anything else lurking in the shadows. His fingers wrapped around the thinned out spool. She'd need more. And soon from the looks of everyone's clothes.

"Yeah." She laid a pair of Beth's jeans across her lap with a soft sigh. "I don't feel like their mama. I just feel like I'm doing my part. It's something I know how to do, and it's quiet. I don't have to be around everyone to get it done. May not be much..."

He turned then, realizing just how close he was to her. And for once, he didn't want to put more distance between them. Instead, he tossed the spool onto her bed near the pile of folded laundry and managed to lay his hand against her knee. Her pants had a small neglected tear, and his skin brushed softly against hers. "You do more 'round here than you give yourself credit for, Carol. So much more."

She looked up, eyes locked on his. Her body gave a slight quiver. It had been far too long since anyone had given her comfort. So long, in fact, she'd forgotten the touch of anyone that wasn't Beth or Judith. "Daryl, I don't do anything I hadn't done before all this. I don't step up. I don't..."

His hand came up, two fingers gently pressed against her lips as he shook his head. "Ain't gonna let you tear yourself down. Hear me?" 

"I hear you." Her lips brushed his fingertips. Her voice came out soft, but there was something in it that made her sound satisfied. She leaned forward slightly and laid her hand gently over his as it rested on her knee.

He slowly moved the two fingers from her lips and held her chin. He tilted her head up, meeting her eyes. "Yeah. You hear me, but are you listenin'?" He tilted his head a bit. "Cause there is a difference."

She didn't miss a beat. "I know I shouldn't put myself down. Old habits die hard, Daryl." She took a shaky breath. Her chin still rested against his fingers. Her heart picked up speed, beating out a tempo in her chest. Her mouth went dry. She wasn't sure what should happen next. 

It was like a magnetic pull that drew their mouths together. Their lips touched just as Rick called up the stairway. "Daryl, are you up there? I could use your help..."

And just like that, the moment was lost. It was their first kiss, and now, Rick had come along to ruin it.

He hurried to stand like a scalded pup. He moved to the door and turned back in Carol's direction just as he went to step out. "This...this ain't over."

Her lips felt like they were on fire. For the briefest moment their lips met, and she knew if Rick hadn't interrupted them that it would have been the best kiss of her life. "Damn it, Rick," she muttered under her breath as Daryl left her cell and hurried to do whatever Rick needed him to do. 

She reached for the spool of thread and began to work on the pile of unmended clothes. She'd just have to occupy her time until Daryl returned to finish what they had started; whenever that may be.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story started out as something else entirely, but this is what the muse demanded to be written instead, so the summary was changed. I still hope to write a fanfiction where the events of Carol's banishment turn out differently than the show's timeline, but this fanfiction is not it. This story is now complete as it is written. I hope those that read the first chapter with the old summary are still willing to read and enjoy this as I've written it.

The time came sooner than she'd expected. She'd just finished the last shirt from her previously daunting pile when she felt someone watching from the doorway. Her eyes moved to flicker in Daryl's direction, but her fingers steadily worked to finish the last several stitches. "Rick let you go, did he?"

Daryl leaned against the cell door with his arms crossed over his chest with his hands tucked under his arms. He nodded, keeping his eyes focused on her hands. He waited until she had the last stitch knotted and the extra thread cut before he stepped forward, taking the work from her hands and setting it aside. 

He helped her to her feet, taking her face in his hands and kissing her softly. He let his lips linger against hers. He had used all his courage to do the kissing, and now the next move was hers to make. 

Her hands moved up his chest, pressing against his ribs gently as she pushed him back a step or two at first, then she moved him even further back. She saw the confused look in his eyes, but the moment his back hit the bars of her cell, she saw the realization dawn in his eyes. Her mouth met his again as she pushed herself up onto her tip toes and pressed her body against his. Her hands moved from his chest and upward until her arms wrapped tightly around his neck and her fingers wound into his hair. 

He softly growled as he felt one of her hands lowering again; only this time, her hand moved between them. Her fingers desperately tried to undo the belt that held up his trousers. He kissed her again and again; soft, tiny, desperate kisses that alternated with grunts and sighs. He shifted them and pressed her against the concrete wall that separated the cell next to hers. He moved his hands down her body, cupping her ass as he lifted her body up so she could wrap her legs around his hips. 

They were now eye to eye. Their foreheads touched for a long moment which allowed them both to attempt to catch their breaths. She whimpered as he shifted his hips, pressing his desire for her against her core. Her eyes closed tightly. She wasn't able to control her breathing any better than he had. His pants for air warmed her cheeks. 

He dipped his head once more, capturing her lips and pushing his tongue along the seam until her lips parted for him once more. He managed to stumble to the bunk beds where he ducked to lay her on the bottom bunk. He reached behind his back, pulling his shirt over his head and throwing it onto the cold concrete floor. 

Her fingers slipped up along his stomach and over his ribs, silently counting each and every rib before she moved her thumb to circle his erect nipple. Her mouth fell open into an 'o' as his face buried against her neck. She felt him trembling above her, and a soft smile fell across her lips as she then moved her hand from his sensitive nipple and up along his bicep to his shoulder and finally into his hair. "Daryl," she breathed. "Don't-don't stop." 

This had been a long time in the making, and she knew they'd both regret it if they were to stop now. Her fingers gently massaged his scalp before she kissed his temple. "Please?" 

He lifted his head from her neck and searched her eyes. He then reached to finish undoing his belt and managed to kick himself out of his boots and pants leaving him clad in only his boxers. He had licked his lips seconds before his raspy, emotion filled voice filled the air, "Now you." 

She quickly complied, leaving herself in only her threadbare cotton panties as she watched him watching her. Her breasts weren't exactly perky, not anymore, but her body had been trimmed of fat as she had grown lean as the months had passed. She was no longer the mousy woman he'd met at the quarry outside Atlanta. Even through her clothes disguised that very fact from the rest of the world, he now knew what hid beneath. 

He gently moved his hand up along her stomach to her breast. He mimicked her earlier motions, allowing the pad of his thumb to circle her nipple. He felt it pebbling under his touch. His eyes were closed now as a gasp fell from his mouth. He ached to feel it on his tongue. "Carol," he whimpered. 

"Touch me, taste me..." Her eyes fell on his face as her hand took his chin gently lifting his face up to hers and whispered, "Take me. Please?" 

He didn't have to be asked twice. He gently kissed her before he took that very same nipple into his mouth, teasing it with his tongue before he suckled it gently. His hand never stopped roaming, slipping beneath her panties and sliding them down her legs as she removed his boxers. 

And he took her; took her body, then her soul. Their bodies tangled together afterward, unable to be too far from one another as her head lay against his shoulder. His chest heaved at first then slowly evened out as the gentle strokes of her thumb skating over the skin just above his heart soothed him and put him in a state of contentment. 

Her eyes fluttered closed as his lips pressed against her hair. Their threadbare lives had collided so long ago, and it had taken their bodies until now to catch up. She had just about drifted off when she heard Rick's voice from the room below them. 

"Daryl? Hey, Daryl. You up there?" 

They could hear his feet on the metal stairs as he moved up toward the perch. "Fucking hell," Daryl growled as he pulled the sheet up and over them. They'd forgotten to lower the sheet she had hung to shield prying eyes from seeing what was going on inside her cell. He hissed, "I'm busy. Find someone else to do whatever it is you need doin'." 

Rick shrugged, continuing up to the perch. "Hey, Carol, you up here?" 

Carol's cheeks colored red. "Busy, Rick. We'll see everyone later. Maybe tomorrow." She heard him turn and head back down the stairs, effectively getting rid of him. She felt Daryl's hand squeeze her hip just before he pulled her close as she tried to suppress a giggle as she pressed her face into his shoulder. Her mind was drunk on their lovemaking and the realization that now everyone would now, but it didn't matter. 

At least, it didn't matter right now.


End file.
